Hand held communication devices, such as mobile telephones and PDAs, currently are adapted to incorporate a variety of functions and to support multiple mechanisms of communication. For example, a mobile phone can provide traditional wireless telephone functions, while also providing the ability for a user to capture digital images and the ability to transmit or receive captured images for display on the phone's LCD. Indeed, the modern mobile phone allows the user to send and receive text messages, audio and video clips, graphics and images via electronic mail, Short Message Service (SMS), or Multimedia Message Service (MMS), in addition to simply talking to another caller.
Each communication mechanism is associated with a particular addressing scheme, such as a phone number for phone calls, an email address for electronic messages, or an http URL for posting images. The personal communication devices that support a wide range of communication mechanisms generally treat each mechanism separately.
One primary limitation of conventional communication devices, such as camera phones, is that address entry is cumbersome and tedious using the limited keys available. For example, assume the user of the camera phone sees an image that he desires to transmit to a friend. The user must take a picture of the image and then enter the friend's email address for the image to be delivered via electronic mail. Then, the picture must be attached to the email and the email sent. Each of the communication mechanisms require multiple steps in order to send the image.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved system and method that allows a user of a communication device to capture an image and send the image from the communication device. The present invention addresses such a need.